Above the clouds
by SDJ
Summary: Is three years long enough to wait for a miracle? It was for me. So now I'm going after him. [Discontinued, sry]
1. Wake up

Hillo. Above the clouds by me... that is all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skies of Arcadia

Above the clouds

Three years…is it long enough to wait for a miracle? It was for me. I couldn't help missing him. So I did the only thing I could. I decided to go after him. But I should probably start at the beginning…

_Dear Blue rogues, _

_ I guess by now you guys have realized that I've left (Aika probably barged in to my room, ready to kill). I took a small crew and the smallest ship I could. I wish I could have said goodbye…but I won't say I'm sorry. Maybe in time you could understand. Island life isn't right for me. I wish I could have settled down like Fina and Enrique…but I need to sail the skies. I need it to live. Be back soon! I'll miss you. _

_Sincerely, your captain,_

_Vyse_

…_That was what we found in his room, on a made bed, with a small bag. It was addressed to me. In it was a note in Vyse's writing_

_Aika, you need this more than I. But you'll need a lens! Be good! _

_Inside Vyse had put his old eye patch frame, hanging from a piece of leather. _

_There was uproar the night I told Fina and Enrique that I was going after him. They didn't want to lose me too. But later that night they both understood. So I'm taking the 'Jewel' and a small crew and I'm gonna go look for him. I'll drag him back kicking and screaming if I have to! _

_"_VYSE! Time for breakfast! Get up, get up, get up!" Vyse groaned at the voice rising from the stairs, flipping on his side. He heard his door open and an all too familiar voice spoke, "Vyse! You're still asleep? We have to ride today! I'll get Mama up here." she threatened. His curtains opened and light was sent streaming across his face. He reached an arm up to block the sun. "Gmm ud mater." he mumbled.

"What?"

"I said I'd get up later."

"Nope. You have to have breakfast and then we're going riding. You're riding Star."

"All right. You win. I'll get up."

"I love winning!" Vyse opened one eye to look at the young girl, always so bouncy. She smiled at him. She was more different then most of his other friends-how long had it been since he thought of them? She wore a long pink skirt and a brown apron. Her black hair in two long pigtails, though her hair usually fell out of them. She was only 18 but already the top rider in town. She had vibrant red eyes that sparkled constantly, even when she fought. Though in this place there wasn't much use for that. This place was peaceful. Sonna turned and walked out, leaving Vyse to get up and down stairs.

After breakfast Vyse walked through town with Sonna, heading for the docks, saying hello to people from the village and his own men who were on their way to the ship. "That reminds me. How is your ship? Is it still damaged bad? You've been working on it for almost 2 ½ years now!"

"Ah. We had a small problem with the engine…it uh…exploded…again."

"That old thing! I'm telling you, you should hock it for a new one!"

"I know, I know. But I don't think your technology is up to snuff. You know you don't have many ships up here." she stuck her tongue out at me.

"We're fine up here. You know those legends you tell us, about the old world? And those brave people who one time saved the world by fighting those Gigas?"

"Yeah."

"Well those legends…we have them here too. But ours are about _your _world. Who live below the clouds, with steel and electricity. We live above the clouds, far from the dangers of your world."

"I know Sonna. I know."

By now they had reached the docks. Sonna grabbed his hand and pulled him up a ramp as fast as she could, laughing, forgetting the conversation. She ran to a large man at the end of the ramp. "Ton! We need Star and Minory." He put his lips to a cone next to him and yelled the names; the message came out below the island to the place where they kept them. A few seconds later a large form was rising over the horizon. A second later a large whale was floating at the side of the dock. Sonna grinned wide and ran forward. "Good morning Minory!"

Minory (the whale) made a loud noise. Vyse stood back and watched Sonna.

Sonna smiled and ran towards the whale that floated down a bit and she landed on his back. Her legs were on either side of her, her hands pressed against the whale's back. "Hurry Vyse!" and with that she pressed a palm against the whales back. It obediently turned away from the island, heading in to the sky, clear as can be-far above the clouds.

A few moments later another whale appeared, smaller than the other. This one was Star, domestic born and smaller than Sonna's, which had come from the wild. Vyse smiled, "Hello Star. Sleep well?" A low moan from the whale. Vyse jumped off the dock, landing on the whale's back, though he was standing. He plopped down, his legs on either side of him, just like Sonna. He too went out towards the sky. He noticed that there were a lot of people out today. But only a few hours after they came out Sonna stopped, her head dropping down. She pressed her knee into the side of the whale and it flipped over until she was parallel to the clouds below them. Then she looked up and smiled. "It's gonna _rain_. It's gonna _pour_…Yippee! Let's go Vyse!" Here the water vapor was pulled from the sky above and came down to the clouds, hitting them on its way. They had no lightning, just thunder.

2 hours later

The rain had started about an hour ago, but already it was pouring. Vyse was soaked through and it was hard to see through the rain. He didn't like riding in the rain. It was like sailing in the rain, just with no gauges or navigation. But the people surrounding him seemed not to worry. On the contrary they seemed to like the rain. Or at least they seemed to be having the time of their lives, whooping and soaring like madmen. Vyse put a hand to his glass eye patch, adjusting it till he could see well.

Then he saw something that made his blood run cold. A ship was out in the middle of the sky, not far from him, being pitched and whipped about by the winds or lack there of. Up here the air was thin, making it hard to fly airships, this he knew from experience. Then something else caught his eye. One of the ships sails was whipping in the air, the line had broken. Vyse acted quickly. He called to Sonna and pointed, she turned and started yelling, but Vyse didn't hear what she said. He was already flying towards the ship with everything he was. He flew, pushing Star onward. Suddenly he saw a flash of color on the mast of the broken sail. A flash of orange before the sail whipped in front of it. He noticed quickly what was happening when the sail started to go taught. The figure was tying the rope down! Suddenly the sail moved and he knew it was tied down. He could barely see the orange figure stand. He watched the figure turn and then it jumped, swan diving into a crowd of men who caught it. A cheer reached his ears, but then another sound and then the crew turned to stare at him. It was uproar, people screaming and turning the boat, but this accomplished nothing but making them sink more. Vyse whipped around, screaming to Sonna. Two whales showed up on either side of the boat and cradled it between them, they were unmanned. The crew screamed louder than before. But Vyse didn't care, he needed to go help. But then he noticed something else, the orange figure was on the side of the boat. He watched the figure leap off the side of the boat, towards the whales. It landed on one and he saw her start to hit it with something, the whale moaned and pulled away from the boat, angry and hurt. "No. STAR! HURRY!" the whale the figure had hit spun around in circles and he watched the inexperienced flyer start to fall and on her way down was hit by the spinning fin. Vyse was really moving now and as soon as he was close enough to where she had fallen he jumped. Skydiving threw the air at a high speed. He was closing in on the figure, ignoring the pain he felt at the change in air pressure. He flew one arm out and it-by some miracle- locked around her waist. He saw Star coming up below him and flipped around, landing hard on his hand and knees (the other hand holding her). He collapsed on to the whale's back and spoke as clearly as he could against the incoming darkness, "Let's go home Star." And he looked down at the girl in his arms; he moved her strangely familiar orange hair and looked down on her soft face and even further to what was around her neck. A strap of leather holding the frame of an eyepiece. And then the darkness came and he could no longer keep his consciousness.

When the darkness lifted the first thing Aika felt was pain. Horrible spirit-crushing pain. The next thing, even before her own scream came, was someone yelling.

"Stay with us, Vyse!"

"Let me go! Help her! Help her! Let me see her!"

"Put her under!"

"Don't you dare!"

"Put her under, we have to take care of Vyse first! He's all that matters!"

"Don't you touch her! You- what are you doing! Don't you dare hold her down like that! Don't touch her!"

Her eye's slid open to stare at that boy across the room from her. There was blood and he was screaming and pulling away from the men restraining him. He was going completely insane. When he noticed that her eyes were open he screamed to her. "AIKA! AIKA!" She watched him for another moment and noticed a girl in pink with tears in her eyes; she also had a needle in her hand and seemed very far away. But a moment later she felt a prick and the world went dark.

"…Ka…Aika…?"

Slowly light flooded into her line of vision. Then something else, a glint of silver, a mop of brown hair. "Vy…se…?"

"Aika!" Her vision had cleared and she could now clearly see him. His hair was longer now and his eye patch was different along with the rest of his clothes, he was bandaged up tightly, but it was him. It was Vyse sitting on the edge of the bed she was in. Tears came up into her eye's. "Vyse!" She sat up quickly and threw her arms around his neck. She gave a small sob. "It's really you! I found you, I _found _you! You look so different but it's you!"

"Aika! Aika! Calm Down. You need to stay calm ok? You're not well-"

_Knock, Knock. _"Can we come in now?"

"Yeah! Come on in! She's awake now." Aika's crew came into the room, all smiles. "Hey captain!" "How are you feeling?" "Did you hear about the whales?" "Isn't it amazing!"

"Hold on guys. One at a time." Aika said with a giggle. It was then that Aika noticed a shy-looking girl stuck in the back of the crowd. She was wearing big brown gloves to match the apron over her pink dress.

"Ok guys, calm down. You're not well either and you'll tire her out. She needs her rest."

"Ah, Vyse."

"Ha-ha. Go on. You can see her later"

"All right. Bye Captain!" Aika gave a wave as they left. She saw the girl try to follow them out but Vyse called to her.

"Wait here with me Sonna."

"Ah! All right."

"Aika? This is my friend Sonna."

"Nice to meet you."

Aika nodded, "Ditto."

"Di--"

"That means 'same'." Vyse explained to Sonna. The girl smiled and nodded.

Ok well this is it. I'll try to upload quickly.


	2. Welcome to Yunarita

Hello. This is the next chapter of Skies of arcadia fic, Above the clouds. Now I don't think my chapters will be as long as the first. But please bear with me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and am flat broke, so don't sue 'cause you'll end up with about... 2 cents.

Ch. 2 Welcome to Yunarita

"So your name is Sonna? That's so pretty!" Aika exclaimed.

"Oh, um...thank you." Sonna blushed profusely. Vyse smiled at her shyness.

"Vyse?" Aika asked.

"Hn?" He responded.

"You got some 'splainin to do."

"Eh heh heh. I knew you would say that at some point." Vyse laughed nervously. Aika crossed her arms and looked expectantly at him. "Um…Sonna can you get her some clothes? We're going out."

"No. She needs her rest Vyse. She will rest first and then she can go with you." Sonna instructed. Vyse sighed and nodded. "All right. You rest here miss." Sonna said, gripping Vyse's arm and hauling him out of the chair, supporting his weight with an arm around his waist. Aika nodded as Vyse was escorted from the room.

Aika took this time to look over herself. And noticed in surprise that, though heavily bandaged, she was not wearing a sling nor a cast. _'Thought for sure I had broken my arm and leg. Meh, whatever. I should be glad I'm not dead. Well nap time!' _Aika thought.

2 hours later

Aika's eyes slid open and she slowly sat up. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. She glanced out the window and guessed it to be approaching evening. Maybe an hour and a half from sunset.

Aika looked around the room and noticed that on the chair next to her there was a pile of cloth. She reached out and picked it up to find that it was actually a long light green tunic. It had a brown belt and light blue tights like Fina always wore. She stood and changed out of the white dress she had been changed into.

After she was dressed she noticed a brush had been placed in the chair beneath her dress. She brushed her long hair (she wore it down now) and got ready to walk downstairs. She opened the door into a hall and walked down the stairs to the left of her door. The stairs opened up into what seemed to be a dining room by the mass of people sitting at the table to her right. Aika was surprised to see about 10 people sitting at the large table. They were leaning over and grabbing food, talking in loud voices, and seemed to be highly enjoying themselves. Suddenly her view was blocked by a rather large woman. "Well look here! You must be Aika! I'm Mama. I'm the whole villages Mama. Not to mention the doctor." Aika smiled at the woman. She was tall and quite pudgy. She wore a blue dress and a wide grin. Suddenly Aika found herself swept over to the table and dropped into a chair next to a grinning Vyse. "Now you eat up. Little thing like you needs to get some meat on them bones!"

"Um…yes m' am." Aika squeaked.

"Hey Aika. Have a good nap?" Vyse said, watching Mama load Aika's plate with some rather delicious-looking food.

"Yeah. But you're still not off the hook, Vyse."

"He he. Of course not! I'll show you the town after dinner."

"…Fine."

Aika and Vyse finished off what was on their plates, then some desert-a pie that was made by Sonna-and then they set out.

They walked out into a small garden and walked down the path to the gate. The town looked normal. Lots of houses (though obviously none with boat docks, secret passageways, or any pirate stuff you'd find on Pirates isle) and gardens. There were still children running around in dresses and clean clothes. None sporting scars or band-aids from fighting. Nor eye-patches or plastic swords. None wanting to be Vyse the legend or another famous pirate. "They're so…different."

"So you've noticed also? No pirates, no ragged clothes. No violence. They're peaceful."

"But…what if they're attacked? What will the children do? They're so…helpless."

"Really?" Vyse watched a little girl running after a boy. Then when she was right in front of Vyse he reached out a foot and tripped her. The girl simple hit the ground on her hands and flipped right over. When her feet were safely on the ground she grabbed the little boys hand and ran off as if nothing had happened.

"But-but-"

"They're all skilled in gymnastics. They could escape anyone…but they don't need it. This place is peaceful. There's nothing to hurt them. You should see them in the air. When they're riding…they're amazing."

"Riding?"

"In their culture…they do what they call riding. They…ride whales. Up here there's not enough air pressure to fly airships. So instead they capture and breed whales. And then they ride them. They train them to carry a rider, to communicate through touch and voice. But it's more than that. Everyone who chooses to be a rider gets a young whale when they're children. The whale and the child are taught how to ride and be ridden together. They develop a bond and a friendship that's like…well like Fina is with Cupil. It's something you can't have with an airship."

"…So those whales before…"

"They were helping you on Sonna's orders. When you attacked it though…" He let his voice run off.

"Oops. Sorry."

"It's ok."

"Vyse? What happened after I passed out?"

"I was closest so I jumped off Star-the whale- and grabbed you. Then star flew beneath me and I fell on her. I guess Sonna picked us up after that."

"Oh…thanks Vyse. Vyse?"

"Yeah."

"Where's the crew?"

"…probably still eating. They were taken in by families here. They're fine."

"So where's the ships?"

"…being repaired. Both of them. When we got up here we crashed and totaled the ship."

"Vyse what is this place?"

"Oh I thought I told you. This…" Vyse grabbed Aika's hand and ran up a long dock. He stopped at the top and Aika gasped at the beauty of the sunset. "…is Yunarita." After a moment Vyse spoke again. "'When the world was destroyed pieces of land were thrown into the air and stayed there. The survivors of the Rains of Destruction started a new life on these pieces of land, which were anointed Arcadia.' " he repeated a story every Arcadian child knew by heart, but this time he was adding something on the end. "But did you really think we saw everything? That we saw the whole world? I didn't. 'But pieces of land were thrown higher than others, higher than anyone had ever thought they could be thrown. This is how the People Above the Clouds came into being.' It's the story these children know. They have stories up here. Stories about _us_, legends and things. They even have one about the brave people who saved the world and overthrew an empire. I hear one of them was strikingly handsome." Vyse rubbed his chin, trying to hide his grin. Aika elbowed him. "…So…how are the others?" Vyse asked, turning to walk back down the dock.

"Well Fina and Enrique are married. Basically everyone's paired off."

"Oh…really…"

"Yeah…"

"So…um…ar-are you? Paired off I mean."

"Oh-me?--no!-no of course not…no…"

"Yeah-I didn't think so-no…"

"So…how is--" Suddenly Aika stopped. She was staring at a nearby house. When Vyse turned his head and looked he realized what she was looking at. "Vyse…is that…?"

"…yeah. That's him." Not 15 feet in front of Aika stood a rather happy looking Domingo. He was walking towards a house with a woman in front of it. But what shocked Aika was that he was carrying a little girl in a pink dress who was asking to show him her gymnastics. Finally Aika found her voice. "Vyse, son of Dyne of the blue rogues, you better explain right now!"

"Well, that was Domingo, his wife, and his d-daughter."

"Well…you guys…certainly adapted quite well!" She yelled the last part and turned, running away from Vyse. He called for her but she didn't slowdown at all. He sighed and ran after her. The streets were almost empty so it was easy to catch up to Aika. He gripped her arm and swung her around, meeting her tears "Aika! Don't run from me!"

"Don't you order me! Sorry but I'm definitely not as complacent as these people, and I will not be ordered!"

"What!"

"You heard me! Sorry I can't be perfect like these people! Who never fight or yell!"

"Well you didn't expect us to stay alone forever did you!"

"NO! No I expected you to come home! No, not even that! I expected you to stay! Or at least to tell me what you felt like, being stuck on an island! I would've come with you! We could've at least been together!"

"But I didn't think you'd understand."

"Why not? I always understood before! Now-Now I can't understand. If you guys were lonely then come home! Don't start a new life somewhere else! Come Home!"

"Aika…" Vyse reached out and gently pulled her into his arms. "I'm…sorry. Let's go home, people are staring."

"Don't…don't try to make this better. Don't try to calm me down! Don't you hold me like this!" She ripped herself from his grasp and slapped him across the cheek. Her fingers hitting the scar on his cheek. She turned and ran once again, but this time Vyse didn't follow. Slowly his trembling fingers came to his cheek, his head still off to the side. He could almost feel the skin turning red.

-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

Well this is the 2nd chapter of Above the clouds. Hope you enjoy! Please review, I don't get many reviews on this story. And I have cookies. Btw if noone reviews then I'm not going to continue this fic. I have to wright a CL for my friend and think about ideas I got from my friend so I will discontinue this. Sorry to those who read this.


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